Last Updated on December 25, 2022 by Mike Robinson
Clinical depression is a severe, even deadly, condition that is difficult to diagnose. However, health economists view it as equally incapacitating as blindness or paraplegia. Depression is the second most expensive illness there is in terms of the overall financial impact it places on our society. This startling news calculates the years of good life wasted for those going through stages of depression. This data comes from the World Bank and World Health Organization.
Stages of depression
The stages of depression are categorized into four phases: origin, initiation, behavioral inhibition of pleasant activities, and behavioral inhibition of compulsory activities.
When we speak of depression, we refer to a psychological disorder that can become very serious and interfere with the person’s life.
Depression affects the entire psychosocial functioning of the person and affects not only the person who suffers but also their family and social environments. Also, given the economic impact of depression on health services, the entire society.
In this article, I will talk about the four fundamental stages that a person with depression experiences.
Stage 1: The source of depression
Some years ago, some theories supported the idea that depression results from biochemical changes in our bodies. Subsequent studies propose that for a person to be depressed, a significant event has introduced emotions they can’t control.
This change in their world is called the “loss of reinforcers.” The loss of reinforcers would be the source of the depression.
The source of the disorder can come from a series of serious changes such as illness, divorce, loss of a loved one, job loss, family problems, and other psychological stressors.
As we can see, there is no single source or cause for all people. In fact, depression can arise from any experience the person interprets as something they can not adapt to or face.
Not all unpleasant events that generate discomfort or sadness will trigger depression. Sadness is a primary emotion that has a specific biological function.
The function of sadness is to decrease the energy needed to deal with this loss. Sometimes periods of sadness last longer because the person cannot cope with the situation.
When sadness is prolonged, the person can become depressed, and emotional changes involving thoughts and behavior can occur.
These changes produce modifications in the biochemical functioning of the central nervous system. The brain secretes fewer neurotransmitters, which opens the door for depression to set in.
We can classify the loss of reinforcers in the following way:
Accumulation of small stressors
Say a person has the following going on in their life:
- They are unhappy with their career.
- The relationship with their partner could be better.
- Recent family conflicts are causing arguments and disagreements.
- Lately, no time hasn’t been available to go out with friends.
Out of nowhere, their television stops working during a favorite show. The individual then goes into a depressive state. Although the broken television spurred the depression, the real cause was all the accumulated stressors.
Dissatisfaction with your current situation
Life is full of positive and negative events. Injuries, illnesses, and financial struggles happen to everyone. Unfortunately, these events can restrict you from doing things you enjoy. When that happens, depression can occur.
For example, if a person suffers from a disease such as fibromyalgia, which is very painful, this prevents them from enjoying life. Even though he has supportive family and friends, not being able to do things with them like in the past can cause depression.
Occurrence of a life-changing event
This onset of depression occurs when a person experiences a change in their life—like a promotion at work.
At first, it is a positive thing; however, this new role involves more traveling, greater responsibility, a larger workload, high levels of stress, and a changed relationship with your former colleagues.
When a person experiences these events, a series of losses are produced little by little.
Symbolic loss
Sometimes, the adverse event does not happen to you, but you rethink your life when learning about certain situations. For example, when you see a neighbor close to your age has died, you review your life.
Although the loss was indirect, the individual begins to ponder what he has done in the world. Sometimes, the person does not feel satisfied and starts to get depressed.
Stage 2: Confirmation of depression
Intense feelings of sadness usually follow after experiencing one or more of the abovementioned events. Once these strong feelings start, the person cannot cope with them and becomes depressed.
The person views this loss of reinforcers as critical—thoughts of being powerless and hopeless produce a tremendous psychological impact.
This emotional pain manifests itself in two ways:
- Automatic negative thoughts
- Unpleasant emotional and physical sensations.
These feelings drain the individual’s desire to partake in everyday activities. A general state of inhibition, apathy and lack of motivation leads to the next stage.
Stage 3: Loss of desire to enjoy life
This emotional pain, manifested through thoughts and physiological sensations, causes the person to stop doing enjoyable activities.
We stop doing the activities we once enjoyed doing with family and friends. Activities like playing sports, reading, listening to music, and eating out with family.
When the possibility of doing enjoyable activities arise, depression and negative thoughts invade the mind. The person tries to make other excuses like, “I do not feel like it,” to justify their behavior.
The real reason is their thoughts generate discomfort, so the person chooses not to leave and stays home.
This decision may provide short-term relief, but he may feel worse in the long term since he loses the opportunity to climb out of his depression.
Stopping to do nice things is a loss of reinforcers that adds to the loss of initial reinforcers, thus closing the circuit of depression.
In this stage, the person continues to perform the obligatory activities, that is, those activities that, without generating pleasure, are necessary to live, such as working and doing chores.
Stage 4: Reluctance to perform necessary activities
When we stop doing things we like, we can not recover an adequate level of positive reinforcers, thus worsening depression.
Occasionally, depression reaches a level where the person cannot carry out essential activities such as working, taking care of their family, performing housework, and self-care tasks such as grooming.
Common symptoms of depression
Depression involves changes in our mood. Sadness would be the primary and most familiar symptom.
However, people with depression, in addition to experiencing symptoms such as sadness, also experience feelings of grief.
Additional feelings include emptiness and nervousness.
Parallel to these negative emotions, positive emotions, or the ability to enjoy everyday things (anhedonia), is reduced.
Apathy and lack of motivation are also important symptoms that connect with negative thoughts of hopelessness and uncontrollability. In more severe cases, the person suffers such inhibition that getting out of bed and showering is very difficult.
Furthermore, cognitive performance is impaired, leading to problems of concentration that can affect work.
Problems also arise when making decisions that are not necessarily relevant. The person experiences fatigue and energy loss despite requiring no physical effort.
Individuals can also experience sleep problems, both initial insomnia when someone has difficulty falling asleep and maintenance insomnia when the person wakes up during the night.
In depression, there are changes in appetite and weight along with decreased sexual desire.
Negative thoughts revolve around ourselves, others, and the future. People have excessive feelings of worthlessness, self-reproach, or guilt.
They perceive their environment as a hostile and uncertain place. They also consider the people in their environment to lack appreciation for them. In their eyes, the future is as dark and hostile.
Why some people don’t get depression disorders
Not all people in the same situation develop depression. For example, not everyone who gets a divorce develops depression.
Different investigations have shown that several variables predispose us to suffer a psychological disorder.
Many elements increase the likelihood of suffering a psychological disorder if conditions trigger it.
What is psychological vulnerability?
One of the factors they have identified is your lifestyle. Those who fill their lives with pleasant activities that make them feel good are less vulnerable to becoming depressed. The greater the number of positive people and activities in one’s life, the less likely they are to become depressed.
Another factor that makes us vulnerable is our cognitive style, the way we think. If the values and beliefs we’ve built our lives around are weak and inadequate, we will be more vulnerable to suffering depression after a loss of reinforcers.
The third factor that can make us vulnerable to depression is a deficiency in the social area. These deficiencies could be due to a deficit of social skills or an absence of social support.
The last factor is the ability to solve problems. Having problems in life is unavoidable. Therefore, solving the ones you can and coping with the ones you can’t is critical.
When a person experiences a change interpreted as aversive and can not cope with it, it becomes a problem.
Sometimes the person needs to learn a specific and structured procedure to evaluate what is happening, find alternatives, and make the most appropriate decision for their circumstances.
What is biological vulnerability?
Biological vulnerability is the ease with which a person’s body can reduce neurochemical substances once depression begins.
This means when we face a loss of reinforcers, the chances of developing depression will increase for those more biologically vulnerable.
Conclusion
A person passes through a series of stages when going through depression:
The first is the disorder’s origin, where the person interprets a loss of reinforcers as an aversive event.
The second stage corresponds to the establishment of the disorder, where the person begins to think, act, and feel differently. This is where the first changes take place.
The third stage refers to the behavioral inhibition of pleasant activities, where the person with depression stops doing things that once pleased him and generated pleasure.
The fourth stage corresponds to the behavioral inhibition of mandatory activities; the person with the disorder stops participating in activities that society considers mandatory, such as self-care, personal hygiene, work, and taking care of family.
Depression is a psychological disorder that must be treated by a professional. That is where you will learn a series of strategies to face the problem.
Related Article: What is subclinical depression? – ITS PSYCHOLOGY
